GOP legislators move to protect laid-off workers from taxes
House & Senate Republican Office
_______________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information:
March 25, 2009 Jay Finegan, 297-1445
GOP legislators move to protect laid-off workers from taxes
AUGUSTA – State Rep. Kathy Chase and State Sen. Richard Nass announced today that the Joint Standing Committee on Taxation has approved an emergency provision to a bill that would exempt severance pay from the Maine income tax. The emergency preamble to the legislation means that it would take effect immediately after being enacted by the Legislature and signed by the governor.
Ordinarily, a new law goes into effect 90 days following the recess of the legislative session, which is scheduled this year for June 16. Without the emergency provision, the bill wouldn’t take effect until September. “That’s not fast enough,” said Sen. Nass (R-York). “When you have to pay a mortgage and provide food for your family, you need relief immediately.”
.”In this current recession, with so many families losing their incomes, there is no time to waste,” said Rep. Chase (R-Wells), the ranking Republican on the Taxation Committee.
“We expect this bill to pass, and we want it to take effect right away. With the closing of the RR Donnelley plant, 374 employees will be out of work. I just find it unacceptable that the state would move in and take a big chunk of a severance check, which might be the only money left to support a family.”
The bill, LD 197, is entitled “An Act to Provide Tax Relief to Workers Who Lose their Jobs Due to Business Closure.” It is sponsored by Rep. Gary Knight (R-Livermore Falls) and designed to shield severance pay from Maine’s 8.5 percent income tax. The bill, complete with the emergency preamble, passed the Taxation Committee unanimously on March 24. The committee added an amendment to limit the income tax deduction to three years.
Rep. Chase and Sen. Nass attended a meeting in Wells with Governor Baldacci and Wells town officials after the shocking announcement of RR Donnelley’s planned permanent closing of its Wells plant. Sen. Nass represents Wells as well as surrounding towns where some of the employees of RR Donnelley reside.
“Every person losing their job at RR Donnelley wants another job,” said Rep. Chase. “These are not folks who want to rely on the government for support. Yet it is during difficult times when the Legislature must step in and be sure that we support hard-working Maine people who need help until they find employment. I am confident that the full Legislature will move swiftly to pass this legislation to help folks who find themselves out of work through no fault of their own.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25, 2009
For more information: Jay Finegan, 297-1445
_______________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information:
March 25, 2009 Jay Finegan, 297-1445
GOP legislators move to protect laid-off workers from taxes
AUGUSTA – State Rep. Kathy Chase and State Sen. Richard Nass announced today that the Joint Standing Committee on Taxation has approved an emergency provision to a bill that would exempt severance pay from the Maine income tax. The emergency preamble to the legislation means that it would take effect immediately after being enacted by the Legislature and signed by the governor.
Ordinarily, a new law goes into effect 90 days following the recess of the legislative session, which is scheduled this year for June 16. Without the emergency provision, the bill wouldn’t take effect until September. “That’s not fast enough,” said Sen. Nass (R-York). “When you have to pay a mortgage and provide food for your family, you need relief immediately.”
.”In this current recession, with so many families losing their incomes, there is no time to waste,” said Rep. Chase (R-Wells), the ranking Republican on the Taxation Committee.
“We expect this bill to pass, and we want it to take effect right away. With the closing of the RR Donnelley plant, 374 employees will be out of work. I just find it unacceptable that the state would move in and take a big chunk of a severance check, which might be the only money left to support a family.”
The bill, LD 197, is entitled “An Act to Provide Tax Relief to Workers Who Lose their Jobs Due to Business Closure.” It is sponsored by Rep. Gary Knight (R-Livermore Falls) and designed to shield severance pay from Maine’s 8.5 percent income tax. The bill, complete with the emergency preamble, passed the Taxation Committee unanimously on March 24. The committee added an amendment to limit the income tax deduction to three years.
Rep. Chase and Sen. Nass attended a meeting in Wells with Governor Baldacci and Wells town officials after the shocking announcement of RR Donnelley’s planned permanent closing of its Wells plant. Sen. Nass represents Wells as well as surrounding towns where some of the employees of RR Donnelley reside.
“Every person losing their job at RR Donnelley wants another job,” said Rep. Chase. “These are not folks who want to rely on the government for support. Yet it is during difficult times when the Legislature must step in and be sure that we support hard-working Maine people who need help until they find employment. I am confident that the full Legislature will move swiftly to pass this legislation to help folks who find themselves out of work through no fault of their own.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25, 2009
For more information: Jay Finegan, 297-1445
posted by Kathleen Chase at
8:26 PM
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